PlayStation is remaking Uncharted because originality is dead

Right on the heels of remaking The Last of Us: Part 1, and remastering Part 2, PlayStation’s pedigree studio Naughty Dog is reportedly working on a new game: an Uncharted Remake.

Revealed alongside Xbox’s plans to bring key exclusives such as Starfield and Indiana Jones to PS5, a report from XboxEra claims that the Uncharted Remake is being considered at Naughty Dog.

The new remake will allegedly rebuild Nathan Drake’s debut adventure from the “ground up”. Instead of the simple graphical remaster released years ago, this would be a complete re-do of the original story, introducing elements from later games to fit within that narrative. For example, references to Nathan Drake’s brother Sam from Uncharted 4 could be introduced earlier.

XboxEra claims that the new remake isn’t “100 percent happening” but is instead in its early stages. With The Last of Us 3 likely needed to keep pace with the series’ TV show adaptation, it could be many years until Uncharted is remade for the PlayStation 5 or its successor.

Sony is currently gunning hard for remakes of established successful games right now. Alongside the Last of Us remake, PlayStation has also revealed an Until Dawn remake that rebuilds the original game in Unreal Engine 5. In fact, the PS5 was sold on the promise of a remake with Demon’s Souls.

Following the report, Naughty Dog modder and dataminer Speclizer revealed files in an old build of The Last of Us Part 2 that hinted towards the Uncharted remake. Assets of Uncharted’s Elena Fisher and a remake of the Seaplane level can be found inside the game’s files, hinting at a remake.

“In the years I've been reversing, data mining and modding TLOU 2, I've noticed HUNDREDS of references to the TLOU Remake… but thought nothing of it. 2 years later,” they explained. “There are also hundreds of references to Uncharted 1. Here are some that references that I've ripped from TLOU 2 files.”

This means that, at some point, an Uncharted Remake was likely at least in the prototype stage at Naughty Dog. With PlayStation wanting more remakes for PS5, the studio could’ve been testing the idea alongside its sadly cancelled Last of Us multiplayer game. However, it could well be cancelled.